DANVILLE, Va. (Aug. 23, 2015) – Angel Benitez Jr. and Jesse Lazare added to their growing win totals in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama on Sunday, Aug. 23 at VIRginia International Raceway, with respective victories in Rounds 12 and 4.
Benitez, from Miami, earned his third victory of the year by leading every lap of Round 12 Sunday morning in the No. 05 JDX Racing Porsche. Championship contender Lazare, from Montreal, continued his rebound from a tough, non-scoring result in Round 11 Saturday with a victory Sunday afternoon in the rescheduled Round 4, rained out earlier this year at NOLA Motorsports Park and Watkins Glen International.
Lazare earned his series-high fifth victory of the season in the No. 21 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche in Round 4.
Elliott Skeer was the big-picture winner after finishing second in both 45-minute races Sunday in the No. 14 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
Skeer, from Carlsbad, California, built a 19-point lead over Lazare with four rounds remaining this season in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned Single-Make Series. Skeer entered this triple-header weekend trailing Lazare by three points. The two title contenders have swapped the points lead after the last five event weekends this season.
“The points situation does change a little bit,” Skeer said. “I can breathe a little bit more at night now, but we still have four rounds of mayhem, chaos, whatever can happen. So it’s something that you want in a points race and you want to make it to the end, but at the same time, I’m a racer and I’m here to win.”
Reigning Platinum Masters champion Kasey Kuhlman, from Cincinnati, was the top finisher in the class in both races today in the No. 15 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
Jeff Mosing, from Austin, Texas, won the Gold Cup class in Round 4 Sunday afternoon in the No. 01 TOPP Racing Porsche after losing the class lead to Sebastian Landy on the final lap of Round 12 Sunday morning. Mosing was the top finisher in the Gold Masters class in both races Sunday.
ROUND 4
Platinum Cup championship contenders Skeer and Lazare started on the front row and wasted little time pulling away from the pack and starting a taut duel in the opening minutes on the 17-turn, 3.27-mile circuit.
Lazare made repeated attempts to duck under Skeer in the early laps, even pulling side-by-side on the second lap. But Skeer held him off, building a lead of .745 of a second with 34 minutes left.
The two young stars continued to dodge and parry around the track before Lazare sized up Skeer and passed him for the lead with 19 minutes left.
“He had an amazing exit coming out of that last corner, and I knew I had set myself a little bit of a gap to get the perfect slipstream, the draft,” Lazare said. “And I finally did it. I took a little bit of a risk. Stopped myself with the curb a little bit, and it worked.”
Lazare drove away to a 1.415-second lead with two minutes remaining. But he encountered traffic over the last two laps, and Skeer pulled to within .206 of a second with one lap to go.
But Skeer never got close enough to make a last-gasp attempt at victory.
“Jesse drove great today,” Skeer said. “His car setup was on rails. He was able to gain that little bit, but traffic went my way, qualifying went my way, so I was able to put up a fight.”
Santiago Creel, from Mexico City, stayed consistent and avoided trouble to finish third and earn his first podium finish of the season in the No. 60 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
Will Hardeman, from Austin, Texas, finished fourth for the best result of his rookie season in the No. 19 Moorespeed Porsche. Benitez rounded out the top five after starting 17th.
Platinum Masters
Kuhlman earned his eighth Platinum Masters victory of the season. The win came after a sturdy battle for overall position late in the race with Hardeman, which included contact for the duo.
That contact distracted Kuhlman’s focus, and he spun off track in Turn 17 late in the race. He never lost the class lead due to building a lead of 28 seconds before the incident.
“(Will) Hardeman and I were having a great race, and I got a huge run out of Oak Tree, and that was a run,” Kuhlman said. “I popped him on the inside and I made the pass, and I was at the apex and he hammered me in the door. Now, I know him, and that was not an intentional hit. It was just one of those things.
“But it unsettled me all the way down the hill, and I looped it at the bottom. And I let all my hard work go down the drain. I gathered it back up and finished seventh, and I drove really well.”
Jay Patel, from Crown Point, Indiana, finished second in the No. 00 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche. David Baker, from Colleyville, Texas, placed third in the No. 56 TOPP Racing Porsche.
Patel finished on the Platinum Cup podium in all three races this weekend and jumped to second in points behind Kuhlman.
Gold Cup/Gold Masters
Mosing cruised to victory in the Gold Cup and Gold Masters classes by 29.303 seconds, easing the sting of finishing second to Landy in heartbreaking fashion after suffering from brake bias problems in Round 12.
“The car was on point this time,” Mosing said. “Being out there by myself, I was able to think about how bad we torture the tires over the curbing here at VIR. Your teeth are chattering and your eyes are blurry, but the tires just take it for the whole stint. They are just really, really consistent, even cross-pollinating with the TUDOR race tires beforehand.
“It was just good closure to the end of the day. Hat’s off to (TOPP Racing owner) Todd Opperman really nailing the setup this time around.”
Runaway Gold Cup and Gold Masters points leader Mosing earned his fifth Gold Cup and eighth Gold Masters victories of the season.
Joe Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, finished second in both classes in the No. 24 NGT Motorsport Porsche. The runner-up finish completed a rally from a crash earlier in the day in Round 12, as the NGT team worked feverishly to repair the damage.
Mark Llano, from Wellington, Florida, pushed Catania hard to the finish before placing third in both classes in the No. 22 NGT Motorsport Porsche.
Max Tullman, from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award after starting 20th and finishing 17th in the No. 96 Tullman Walker Racing Porsche.
ROUND 12
Benitez earned sweet redemption for a last-lap crash Saturday while running a close second to Skeer in Round 11, hampered by a steering problem.
He led Round 12 from pole to checkered flag, holding back Skeer by 1.857 seconds for his third victory of the season.
“It’s good to be back on the top of the podium,” Benitez said. “We’re here not actually going for a championship but for having fun and to show the people that JDX and Hertz can put a good product together.
“I think we had a very, very fast car yesterday. It was disappointing to see all that potential go to waste because of the mechanical problem that was increasing through the middle of the race to the end.”
Skeer earned his ninth podium finish of the season. Lucas Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, converted a superb start into a third-place finish, his third consecutive podium finish in the No. 26 NGT Motorsport Porsche.
Championship contender Lazare produced one of his most impressive drives of the season, finishing fourth after starting 20th. It was a vital points score for Lazare, who scored no points in Round 11 after being eliminated in a chain-reaction crash at the start of that race.
Andrew Longe, from Naples, Florida, rounded out the top five in the No. 47 Fall-Line Motorsports Porsche.
Kuhlman rebounded from a race-ending crash at the start of Round 11 to become the top Platinum Masters finisher in Round 12.
Landy, from Falls Church, Virginia, passed class leader and Round 11 winner Mosing on the last lap to win in Gold Cup in the No. 49 Champ 1 Motorsport Porsche.
Benitez was launched from a sling shot at the start and during the only restart, with 16 minutes left in the 45-minute race. Both times he pulled away from the field and never was threatened.
2012 Gold Cup champion Benitez never slowed after his rocket starts. He drove to a 5.103-second lead over Skeer before a spin and crash by Gold Masters driver Joe Catania triggered the only full-course caution of the race.
Benitez then eased away from Skeer over the final 16 minutes.
“It’s the car, the way we have it set up,” Benitez said. “We have a good car for starts and restarts. Normally in this kind of race on these kinds of tracks, yellow flags come. We use the car to make a gap and just keep away. It pretty much worked this morning. It should have worked yesterday, but it is what it is.”
Catania climbed from fifth to second on the first lap. Skeer, who started third, started to stalk Catania with 32 minutes left in the race. He ducked and dodged behind fellow rookie Catania, looking for a place to pass on the challenging, 17-turn, 3.27-mile circuit.
Skeer drove past Catania in Turn 2 four minutes later and set sail for leader Benitez. But Catania’s challenges weren’t over.
Lazare made a breathtaking charge through the field after starting 20th. He climbed to 13th after just three laps and was up to seventh with 20 minutes left.
Montreal resident Lazare passed Longe for fourth place in Turn 15 with five minutes remaining. Then he zeroed in on Catania, pulling to within inches of his bumper on the final lap.
But Catania parried Lazare’s final charge, holding him off by .127 of a second at the finish. Lazare turned the quickest lap of the race, a track-record trip 1 minute, 50.383 seconds, during his stirring run.
“I made a mistake in Turn 3 on the last lap, and I knew the 21 (Lazare) was coming fast,” Catania said. “So I just tried to hang on, and it worked.”
Platinum Masters
Reigning Platinum Masters champion Kuhlman was a victim of the chain-reaction collision at the start of Round 11 on Saturday, triggered with Lazare’s transmission wouldn’t upshift.
But Platinum Masters points leader Kuhlman left no doubt about his intentions during Round 12, winning by 13.793 seconds to earn his seventh class victory of the season despite admitting he struggled with his driving.
“Today was good,” Kuhlman said. “I just think I struggled today as a driver. I just didn’t feel like I had it, so I couldn’t really press or challenge. It just became a matter of, ‘All right, just focus and don’t make any mistakes and bring it home.’ Sometimes you have those days, and today was one of those for me.”
Round 11 winner Bill Peluchiwski, from Chicago, finished second in the No. 74 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche to continue a recent hot streak. He has finished on the class podium in five of the last six rounds.
Patel continued his intense duel with teammate and friend Peluchiwski for second in the class standings by finishing third.
Patel earned his place on the podium after placing intense pressure on Baker with about 30 minutes left in the race. Patel and Baker made contact during hard, clean racing with 27 minutes left, with Williams sliding off track momentarily, which allowed Patel to squeeze past for third place.
Gold Cup/Gold Masters
Landy earned his third victory in six starts this season after a dramatic late pass of Gold Cup and Gold Masters championship leader Mosing, who topped both classes Saturday in Round 11.
Mosing led in Gold Cup for the first 43 minutes but encountered a brake bias problem late in the race that caused him to overuse the rear tires. That was costly on the final lap as Mosing went wide in the Oak Tree turn, letting Landy slip underneath for the Gold Cup lead.
But Mosing didn’t give up. He chased down Landy’s 911 GT3 Cup car over the last half-lap but was unable to find a spot to challenge for the lead. Landy prevailed by .346 of a second, turning a class-record lap of 1:53.269 during the race. He earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award after starting fourth in the class.
“I didn’t think the first half of the race I had the pace to keep up (with Mosing),” Landy said. “But fortunately, I think the yellow helped cool things down a little bit and gave me a little more at the end. I was really hanging it out there. That was all I had left, and I was hoping he would make a mistake. Fortunately, he did.”
Landy was quick to salute Mosing for more than clean driving during their last-lap duel. Landy’s Porsche was damaged in an accident in Round 11 Saturday, and TOPP Racing – which fields Mosing’s car – helped Champ 1 Motorsport fix Landy’s car.
“Without those guys helping us out, we wouldn’t be here for this race,” Landy said. “That’s the spirit of the Porsche GT3 Cup.”
Mosing could take consolation with his seventh Gold Masters class victory of the season.
Llano finished third in Gold Cup and second in Gold Masters.
Steve Tullman, from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, earned his first career Gold Masters podium finish in the No. 69 Tullman Walker Racing Porsche.
Tullman’s Porsche suffered heavy damage in a crash Friday that forced an early end to qualifying, forcing him to miss Round 11 and threatening to end his first weekend in the series. But a number of teams in the paddock chipped in to help the Tullman Walker Racing team rebuild the car.
“It’s amazing they put it back together,” Tullman said. “I took such a hit into that tire wall. It gobbled me up and spit me back out, and the car, they spent almost 24 hours rebuilding it. It wasn’t exactly the same as it was before, which is hard to do. Tranny, engine – they put it all back together, and it ran great.”
Up Next
Rounds 13 and 14 are scheduled for Sept. 16-18 during the Lone Star Le Mans World Endurance Championship and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship event at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Round 13 starts at 12:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday, Sept. 17, with Round 14 at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. Both races are 45 minutes.
Live streaming of both races will be available at www.imsa.com. For live timing, visit scoring.imsa.com or the new IMSA mobile app for iOS, Android or Windows.
For live updates on all the action, follow @IMSALive on Twitter.
For more information about Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, visit www.gt3cupchallengeusa.com, follow hashtag #GT3USA @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.
ROUND 4 POST-RACE QUOTES:
JESSE LAZARE (No. 21 Kelly-Moss Motorsports, winner): “I’m super happy. The team did a great job all weekend despite the bad luck. It happens. And I couldn’t do this without Kelly-Moss or the sponsors. I’m going to push every round like it was any other race.” (On the pass for the lead): “He (Elliott Skeer) had an amazing exit coming out of that last corner, and I knew I had set myself a little bit of a gap to get the perfect slipstream, the draft. And I finally did it. I took a little bit of a risk. Stopped myself with the curb a little bit, and it worked.” (On holding off Skeer at the end): “There was lapped traffic. Every time I got a little gap, he got the traffic and came close. He’s a great driver. I’m super happy and can’t wait until next race.”
ELLIOTT SKEER (No. 14 Wright Motorsports, second): “All three races were great here. The triple-header was something new to me, but I really enjoyed it. I really like VIR. I’ve always liked this place. Every lap I do around here I enjoy, especially in a battle with Angel (Benitez Jr.) or Jesse (Lazare). Jesse drove great today. His car setup was on rails. He was able to gain that little bit, but traffic went my way, qualifying went my way, so I was able to put up a fight. But I just have to thank everyone at Wright Motorsports, Porsche, IMSA and Yokohama for everything they’ve done this weekend and this season. It’s been great fun, and I can’t wait to do it again. The points situation does change a little bit. I can breathe a little bit more at night now, but we still have four rounds of mayhem, chaos, whatever can happen. So it’s something that you want in a points race and you want to make it to the end, but at the same time, I’m a racer and I’m here to win.”
SANTIAGO CREEL (No. 60 Wright Motorsports, third): “It was a really crazy race. I had a starting position in seventh, and the track was really slick because it was after the TUDOR race. So I started really conservative, not go fast, fast, fast. But the key here was not to make mistakes. Everyone in front of me made mistakes, and I was able to capitalize on them. It was just consistency. I wasn’t as fast as some of the other guys, but I was consistent. It got me my first podium of the year, and I hope to do it again.”
KASEY KUHLMAN (No. 15 Wright Motorsports, first Platinum Masters): “(Will) Hardeman and I were having a great race, and I got a huge run out of Oak Tree, and that was a run. I popped him on the inside and I made the pass, and I was at the apex and he hammered me in the door. Now, I know him, and that was not an intentional hit. It was just one of those things. But it unsettled me all the way down the hill, and I looped it at the bottom. And I let all my hard work go down the drain. I gathered it back up and finished seventh, and I drove really well. The car was great; the team was great. I redeemed myself from this morning even though the finishing position doesn’t show it.”
JAY PATEL (No. 00 Kelly-Moss Motorsports, second Platinum Masters): “It was another rough race for me. Starting behind at NOLA. Before the NOLA incident in testing, I had an injury to my foot, and it put me behind my game at that last race (at NOLA). So to start a little behind my game again to make up for those positions was a lot of work. It was great racing with (David) Baker and everyone else. I had a good fight with (Bill) Peluchiwski, as well, but I feel bad that he had a little error there at the end. But I guess that’s racing. But it really was a great race, and I want to thank Kelly-Moss for putting together a great car for me, and everyone at IMSA.”
DAVID BAKER (No. 56 TOPP Racing, third Platinum Masters): “I was doing a pretty good job, and I was trying to pressure Jay (Patel), which I was doing until I ran off at the top of the Esses and lost my splitter. Then I had a big push, and I didn’t have anything for him after that. But it was a great race, and TOPP Racing did a great job preparing the car.”
JEFF MOSING (No. 01 TOPP Racing, winner Gold Cup, first Gold Masters): “It’s close to a great weekend. We had a good second place in the GT3 Cup race earlier, with a good battle against Sebastian Landy. We had a second place in Conti, two first places in Cup and track records. It really can’t get any better. We didn’t really even damage the car. We got over the brake issue I had earlier. The car was on point this time. Being out there by myself, I was able to think about how bad we torture the tires over the curbing here at VIR. Your teeth are chattering and your eyes are blurry, but the tires just take it for the whole stint. They are just really, really consistent, even cross-pollinating with the TUDOR race tires beforehand. I had a good race with (Bill) Peluchiwski, and it was a lot of fun racing with him there for a little while. It was just good closure to the end of the day. Hat’s off to Todd Opperman really nailing the setup this time around. We’re already looking forward to coming back here next year. This is one of my favorite tracks.”
MARK LLANO (No. 22 NGT Motorsport, third Gold Cup, third Gold Masters): “I have to say it was one of these tracks where when we came out to test about three weeks ago, it was hard to grasp at first because the track is so complicated. I almost want to say it’s tougher than Mosport (Canadian Tire Motorsport Park) in some capacity, and we had some damage in testing at the last turn, which kind of got me a little apprehensive. So when we came out here and actually got started with the race and the promoter test day, it was really about forgetting what had happened and just focusing on the race one turn at a time. So I just want to thank NGT because those guys worked tirelessly to put together a great car. The Yokohama tires were champs all the way across, and I want to thank our friends out here, some military folks that are supporting the mission. Thank to IMSA for putting on a great race.”
ROUND 12 POST-RACE QUOTES:
ANGEL BENITEZ JR. (No. 05 JDX Racing, winner): “It’s good to be back on the top of the podium. We’re here not actually going for a championship but for having fun and to show the people that JDX and Hertz can put a good product together. I think we had a very, very fast car yesterday. It was disappointing to see all that potential go to waste because of the mechanical problem that was increasing through the middle of the race to the end. Elliott (Skeer) got second. He’s doing a great job for the championship. That’s what he should be doing. Congratulations to him for being the leader. With JDX and Hertz, none of this would be possible, at least not with me in the car. I have to give them so many thanks. I’m so happy that they gave me a call. I just try to give them what they wanted. Thanks to IMSA and Yokohama. What a great tire. I was just doing the same laps the whole race. That says a lot about the tire.” (About strength on start and restart): “It’s the car, the way we have it set up. We have a good car for starts and restarts. Normally in this kind of race on these kinds of tracks, yellow flags come. We use the car to make a gap and just keep away. It pretty much worked this morning. It should have worked yesterday, but it is what it is, and we have another race today.”
ELLIOTT SKEER (No. 14 Wright Motorsports, second): “Angel (Benitez Jr.) was really strong today. There were definitely spots where he was quicker, and there were some spots where I was quicker. He just got out of the gun a little bit quicker, and I wasn’t able to fight and bring him down at the end. I would have been really interested to see, if that race had gone caution-free, if I could have pull it back. But that’s what we were dealt. I’m really happy with the bounce-back after losing third at the start and get back up to second. Great points day, really happy with it.”
LUCAS CATANIA (No. 26 NGT Motorsport, third): (About climbing from fifth to second at start): “The start was a little botched. We kind of spread out before the green was called, and I was able to kind of get on the inside of the 14 car (Elliott Skeer), and I was able to outbrake him. It was as late as I could go. I made it stick, and I was able to stay P2. From there, I was just fighting with the 14, and the double yellow didn’t really help. But we were able to hang on. Great racing by everyone. I’m so proud of NGT Motorsport, Porsche Motorsport. The Yokohama tires were great. I just can’t thank everyone enough.” (Did you know Jesse Lazare was closing on the final laps?): “Yeah. I made a mistake in Turn 3 on the last lap, and I knew the 21 was coming fast. So I just tried to hang on, and it worked.”
KASEY KUHLMAN (No. 15 Wright Motorsports, first Platinum Masters): “Today was good. I just think I struggled today as a driver. I just didn’t feel like I had it, so I couldn’t really press or challenge. It just became a matter of, ‘All right, just focus and don’t make any mistakes and bring it home.’ Sometimes you have those days, and today was one of those for me.” (Do you like this track?): “I like this track. It’s very difficult; it’s challenging. It’s scary. That’s what makes it fun. But it can be frustrating when you’re not 100 percent on your game.”
BILL PELUCHIWSKI (No. 74 Kelly-Moss Motorsports, second Platinum Masters): “It was a good run. (John) Goetz was right behind me. I had a great race with him behind me. It was exciting from that perspective. On the restart, it got a little tighter. But I managed to hold on to it, and Kelly-Moss gave me a great car.”
JAY PATEL (No. 00 Kelly-Moss Motorsports, third Platinum Masters): “It was very interesting. I started a little further back than I wanted, but the main thing was to get through the traffic. However, there were a lot of things going on in front of me, and the goal is to avoid those situations the best I could to get ahead. I had (David) Baker, who is a great driver, ahead of me, and he learned some lessons from yesterday. Basically he told me he was going to watch out for my braking. I tried to outbrake him a bit going into Turn 1, and he just went a little deeper and locked up his brakes and we just got into a little contact there. But I made it through. The rest was a battle with the other cars, just trying to get through traffic and keep up with Bill (Peluchiwski). I was trying to catch up, but I didn’t have a whole lot to get by Bill today. So we’ll see what happens the next race.”
SEBASTIAN LANDY (No. 49 Champ 1 Motorsport, winner, Gold Cup): (About last-lap duel with Jeff Mosing): “It was a long race, for sure. It was a lot of laps of just trying to put my head down and hang on to him. I didn’t think the first half of the race I had the pace to keep up. But fortunately, I think the yellow helped cool things down a little bit and gave me a little more at the end. I was really hanging it out there. That was all I had left, and I was hoping he would make a mistake. Fortunately, he did. But I have to say hat’s off to him and TOPP Racing because we had some crash damage earlier in the weekend, and without those guys helping us out, we wouldn’t be here for this race. That’s the spirit of the Porsche GT3 Cup, and it’s a great way to end the weekend for me. I want to thank Champ 1 Motorsport for all of their hard work this weekend.”
JEFF MOSING (No. 01 TOPP Racing, second Gold Cup, first Gold Masters): “Sebastian (Landy) kept the pressure on me. Hat’s off to him to put his head down and not give up. With two laps to go, I had been struggling with the brake bias in the car, but no excuses. I ended up using up the rear tires a bit more than I wanted to, and I just couldn’t get the rear to take a set coming out of Oak Tree. I knew dropping tires, he was just licking his chops, waiting for me. I tried to hound him hard enough on the last lap to get him to mess up, but he just kept his head down and got it done. So great job, and thanks again to VIR, IMSA, Porsche North America and Yokohama Tires. Even those I’ve used the rears, they held up for the last lap.”
MARK LLANO (No. 22 NGT Motorsport, third Gold Cup, second Gold Masters): “The start of the race, it’s really just about survival at the start. So many people try to win right at the first lap. I think as you start to let some of the faster guys go ahead of you, you can kind of then just pick your spots, turn by turn. NGT, and the guys there, did an amazing job staying late and getting the car prepped and ready. We had a couple of incidents the other day. They gave me a great car to drive. Lauren Elkins spent a lot of time. We went over a lot of data this morning, bright and early, touching upon and focusing on a couple of turns. And that’s all I tried to do today, was to focus on two turns. I’m just really thankful for all those involved and again the mission of SERKET Racing, with our veterans. We’ve got some Navy guys here today, some good friends of ours from the Navy SEALS that are here who are ready to get deployed. So I’m actually going to dedicate this to Steve and Kate, who are here. That’s what it’s all about.”
STEVE TULLMAN (No. 69 Tullman Walker Racing, third Gold Masters): (Reaction to podium finish after heavy crash damage Friday in qualifying): “It’s amazing they put it back together. It really is. I took such a hit into that tire wall. It gobbled me up and spit me back out, and the car, they spent almost 24 hours rebuilding it. It wasn’t exactly the same as it was before, which is hard to do. But it still drove. Tranny, engine – they put it all back together, and it ran great. So I was able to be here, and that’s the best part about it, really. We’re lucky to be able to do this. Endo (Pharmaceuticals), our sponsor, they’ve been helping us. We were here early because of them. We’ll be here next season, as well. We’ll be in Austin (in September). The car will get repaired and get back to where it was, and we’ll see what we can do.”
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